


Talk of the Town

by Metal_Chocobo



Category: Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated (TV 2010)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-20 15:02:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8253322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metal_Chocobo/pseuds/Metal_Chocobo
Summary: A lot of people were hurt when they read Velma’s newest book, which was a thinly veiled tell-all. Marcie’s reaction was violent enough she threw her copy away.





	

Velma Dinkley’s book was the talk of the town. Oh sure, setting it in the fictional town of “Coolsville” added a touch of deniability, but everyone in Crystal Cove, CA, could tell it was a thinly veiled tell-all. A lot of people were hurt when they read it. No one had ever treated Velma and her group of friends the way they were portrayed in the book; they were beloved, not outcasts. Nobody could understand why Velma wrote such a novel, but it took the country by storm. Everyone seemed to love how the gimmicky mysteries eventually wove into true horror. Well, everyone outside of Crystal Cove. For them it was horror from the start.

The worst hatchet job was on Coach Fred Jones. Mayor Janice Nettles wasn’t even in the first half of the book and instead Coach Jones filled her role. However, he was an awful mayor—always interested in cashing in on the latest monster scheme and generally acting like a terrible human being. The worst part though was the fact that in Velma’s story it turned out he had kidnapped her friend, Fred Chiles, as an infant and proceeded to neglectfully raise him while blackmailing several people and framing a parrot. Perhaps what she did to Brad and Judy Chiles after that was even worse, but by that point the book was so far off the tracks of reality their behavior was more surreal than anything else.

Marcie threw her copy away when she read about her character’s arrest for criminal mischief.

They had been friends and, once upon a time for a brief period, even more. She had always loved and respected Velma with the understanding the feeling was mutual. However, that was obviously not the case. Marcie never understood what made their relationship sour, but right before graduation Velma became uncharacteristically hesitant, stopped meeting her eyes, and didn’t seem to know basic history or cultural references anymore. She would have assumed Velma had gotten sick—some sort of absurdly early dementia or a stroke—but Fred, Daphne, and Shaggy showed the same symptoms as well. Even more worryingly, the four of them started including the dog in their decision making process as well. They had always considered Scooby ‘one of the gang,’ but this was taking it too far.

As soon as they had their diplomas in hand, Velma and the rest of the gang piled into a van and took off without a second thought. For a while Marcie stayed in touch with her through email, but she could tell Velma’s heart wasn’t in it. She had never thought she’d break up with her first girlfriend via text. Life was full of surprises like that.

Despite the break up, and the fact that Velma clearly didn’t want Marcie in her life, she still kept tabs on Velma. Oh nothing serious, she wasn’t about to waste money on a detective when Velma would easily notice a tail, just whenever she or Mystery Inc. got mentioned Marcie would take note. It was old school, but Marcie had a scrapbook full of newspaper clippings with stories about them. That was mostly because Angie liked to send them to her; she had never stopped considering Marcie another daughter. When Velma started publishing mystery novels Marcie bought every one, both as hardcover and digital ebooks on her Kindle.

It seemed slightly obsessive over an ex, but Velma’s books were masterpieces of logical mystery solving with a scientific twist. Marcie adored every word. Not only did she drop everything to read each book from cover to cover when she got her hands on a new Dinkley novel, but she regularly reread the entire crime tech series. The traveling bounty hunter series, which was clearly semi-autobiographical, were books Marcie only read once. The way Velma so clearly bled through in those stories was too painful for Marcie to commit to memory.

Needless to say, when Velma’s new novel was announced Marcie pre-ordered a copy immediately. She only got more and more excited as the publishers revealed teasers to whet the public’s appetite That was how she realized this book was a retelling of Velma’s childhood, or at least her teen years. Marcie had a burning desire to find out how she was characterized in the story, which would tell her how Velma remembered her, and if there were any clues as to why Velma soured on her. If she could understand that maybe she’ finally be able to get over her. The specter of her first love loomed in all of Marcie’s subsequent relationships, ultimately overshadowing, and dooming them.

That was why Velma’s portrayal of her blindsided Marcie so badly. She wasn’t even introduced with a name, but with a cruel nickname based on a made up rumor. Even worse, it was Velma’s character who first spewed the slander. It knocked Marcie for a loop when Fred’s character was the one to provide a scientific basis for the name, which was completely out of character for him and only further highlighted Velma’s vitriol for her.

Seeing her character interact with Velma’s was even worse. They hated each other with a passion Marcie only reserved for plagiarizers in real life. It made Marcie wince with every exchange because she heard it in Velma’s voice, with all of her natural inflections and biting sarcasm. She knew her too well not to hear the words that way. Flying around as a manticore to destroy her father’s amusement park was the worst betrayal written because she remembered building that flight suit—which didn’t resemble a manticore in the slightest, none of the park’s mascot suits were monsters—with Velma. They spent months building that suit and only tested it after hours when no one could possibly be put in danger. When Marcie finally soared over the Ferris wheel with Velma in her arms that was a shared triumph. That was the same night they first kissed, right after they crash-landed in the churros stand. If she thought hard enough she could still taste the cinnamon on Velma’s lips. The book Velma’s gleeful delight in her arrest was the last nail in the coffin.

Not only did Marcie toss the book, but she threw out the rest of her Dinkley collection. If she weren’t so enraged she might have taken them to the used bookstore for a trade in, it was a perfect collection, but that would have meant facing Angie. Instead, she decided to put Velma completely out of mind, which meant withdrawing from a lot of her social interactions; it turned out Velma still ruled far more of her life than she had thought, leaving her with only her work. Her students regretted Marcie’s decision because after it Dr. Fleach’s classes were considered the hardest at Darrow University. She caught every mistake and penalized accordingly.

Marcie spent a year doing everything she could put Velma out of mind. Mostly she was successful, but she was still looking for something to replace her previous hobby. After all, her mystery book club adored all Dinkley novels of any type and frequently got off topic to talk about Velma’s travels and body of work. Ever since the book was published Marcie had been exceedingly grateful she never actually revealed her past with the author. She could only imagine the sort of comments her friends would make if they knew she was Hot Dog Water.

She needed some form of distraction when her work became bogged down in paperwork or unexpected complications. Sports had never been her thing, nature made her pollen allergies flare up, and knitting made her feel more like a crazy old cat lady than her two felines ever did. Lately she spent her nights curled up on the couch with Fate and Happenstance, her cats, reading engineering journals. She used to love doing this, even long after Velma left—though it had always been better when she had someone to cuddle with, which is why she got the cats in the first place—but now the enjoyment was gone. In all honesty, she hadn’t felt this depressed since her freshman year of college when she lost Velma and finally realized her professors didn’t have all the answers; in a lot of cases they didn’t even know the question.

Lying awake in bed at night Marcie wondered if she needed therapy. This level of obsession, especially so long after the events occurred, couldn't be healthy. The university health plan would cover Marcie’s counseling costs—no problem—and ideally allow her to move on with her life. Perhaps medication would be needed, but she’d had to take pills and supplements for various health issues over the years, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Yet she still hesitated to make an appointment. She was afraid she’d need more than a prescription. She was afraid of being judged and found crazy. Aside from Ketamine, fear was the most powerful paralyzing agent Marcie knew. 

Something needed to change, otherwise she would never escape from this rut, and Marcie didn’t think she had the strength to do so. Luckily, in the end she didn’t have to. In the end, Happenstance happened. Not only did he escape his carrier at the vet’s office, but he firmly attached himself to another visitor in the waiting room. It wasn’t until Marcie pried him off that she realized it was Madelyn.

“Hey,” Marcie greeted her awkwardly. She always had issues thinking of what to say to Madelyn, even when she and Velma were only friends. There was something about Madelyn that made Marcie want to fill up the silence with idle chatter, which wasn’t normally her thing. Most of the time Marcie preferred the awkward silences to speech. “Sorry about Happenstance. He doesn’t usually do that.”

“Hey, it’s totally okay,” Madelyn responded. “Marcie, I’m glad Happenstance—you seriously named your cat that?—happened. I haven’t seen you in ages, I mean not since…” She trailed off abruptly, suddenly unsure how to end the sentence without being rude.

“It’s okay, you can say it,” Marcie smiled; though that was the last thing she wanted to do. “We were all fairly maligned in Velma’s book.”

“I wasn’t.”

“Oh?”

“She ah… she never mentioned me,” Madelyn said, shoulders sagging. “It was never explicitly stated, but I think everyone but Daphne was an only child in that book. So I got completely written out of existence.”

“I think I would have preferred that as to what happened to me,” Marcie said stiffly.

“You’re joking, right? HDW is like the coolest character in the book,” Madelyn said, staring at Marcie like she had two heads. “The whole book is a tragic romance about you two! I mean, that’s like the C Plot after all the Fred’s parents stuff and Professor Pericles, but it’s a huge part of the book!”

“What are you talking about?” Marcie asked, just as a lab tech arrived to take her and Happenstance to a room. “Hot Dog Water gets arrested and she’s gleeful about it. That’s no tragedy; that’s rewriting history.”

“Oh my god, you never finished the book!” Madelyn screeched, covering her mouth in shock. Marcie wanted to get to the bottom of this, but it was time for the cats’ appointments and so she followed the tech to an examination room. Madelyn shouted after her. “Marcie, finish the book! All the stuff you’ll care about happens in the second half! Believe me, you won’t regret it!”

At first Marcie ignored Madelyn’s suggestion, but then Fate happened. More specifically, Fate managed to unlock Marcie’s kindle and opened it to the first page of the book not once, but three times in a row. Marcie really regretted her name choices for the cats. Fate wasn’t even her fault, since the shelter named her that, but Marcie was definitely to blame for Happenstance. She just couldn’t stand the thought of living with cats named Fate and Destiny, so she balanced things out. She should have just named him ‘Chance’ instead of being pretentious.

The third time Fate opened the book it was after Marcie had drunk a couple glasses of wine and was feeling a bit maudlin. That was why she finally started reading it again. So she lay on the couch with her kindle in hand and two cats to keep her company as she read. Really, that was the best possible situation to be in while she powered through it.

The book was just as awful as she remembered. Marcie resumed reading at the start of the manticore incident, since she didn’t think she could slog through it again unless she immediately faced it. The wine numbed enough of the sting she was able to note Velma actually came up with a semi plausible reason for why Marcie would turn to a life of crime. When she was sober she’d also have to look into the publications about the possibility of super hydrogen derived from overly stressed iron, such as that found in an amusement park. It was probably all bunk, but Velma made a convincing case for the science in her novel. If there wasn’t any research into the subject, maybe Marcie would take a few discarded beams from one of the old rides back to her lab for testing after her next visit home.

Surprisingly, things started to turn around after the Fred Jones Sr. reveal. Marcie’s character came back, out on parole, and suddenly she was more than a bad geek foil for Velma. Marcie would even go as far as to say she had skills and she rather wished the book had gone into more depth about the Russia mission. Perhaps that was Velma’s set up for a spy spin off series. In any case Marcie appreciated the fact her character was suddenly sympathetic, though it did seem to come out of left field after one note joke she had been in the first half.

Then in the last stretch of the book things got weird. Marcie couldn’t put the novel down as universes bled into one another and the town was swallowed whole by a tentacle-laden madbird. Despite his unending antagonism and shallowness, Sheriff Bronson Stone died a hero’s death, but it was nothing compared to her own. It wasn’t explicit, but she could almost hear the Gatling gun fire and creaking bridge as Velma considered whether or not she still had the will to live. Strangely, Velma’s palpable grief felt like as much of a punch to the gut as her leaving had been all those years ago. Marcie wondered why she wrote this passionately about her after ending things the way she had. It didn’t make sense.

However, Marcie didn’t cry until her character returned from the dead. Or rather, the universe rebooted and suddenly she had never died, but that was essentially the same thing to her and book Velma. Her reappearance only last three pages, but suddenly the character was Marcie in a way she hadn’t really been before. She described in full detail how Marcie’d fiddle with that silly tasseled pillow Velma always kept on her bed while Velma verbally wrestled her problems. Then, when Velma finally stumbled onto her answer—which Marcie recognized by tone, if not the content of Velma’s musings—Marcie cupped her cheeks and kissed every freckle on her cheeks before releasing her to go off and do what she needed to do. She couldn’t believe Velma included that in the book. It wasn’t the most physically intimate thing they had ever done, but it had become an emotional touchstone to their relationship; something privately cherished and she hadn’t thought about it in years. The forgotten intimacy resonated so deeply Marcie could barely read her last words in the book.

_That’s my girl._

The last pages were something of a let down after that. The whole gang, sans Marcie, piled into the Mystery Machine and drove off to explore their new reality. Clearly, the ending was supposed to evoke, and perhaps explain, why the gang left town immediately after graduation. It made a pretty ending to a shockingly good book—even she had to admit that after finishing the story—but it also left her disquiet.

Why did Velma write the ending the way she did? Why did she lay their relationship, their real relationship, completely bare in three pages at the end of this strangely twisted book? Perhaps most importantly, why did she release this book now? Marcie needed answers and she didn’t think she could get them from anyone, but the author. She just didn’t have a clue how she’d go about contacting Velma.

In the end Angie Dinkley had the answer. The moment she heard Marcie wanted to get in touch with her elder daughter again, Marcie received three phone numbers, two emails, her home address, and also Velma’s private Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram handles. Of course Angie believed that the more methods of communication the better. She had a paralyzing number of options. 

That was also the poor excuse she used to explain to herself why she never actually contacted Velma. Marcie knew she needed to do it, she needed those answers, but she couldn’t actually bring herself to take the final step. The Marcie in Velma’s books would have; she was far braver than the real one would ever be. The closest she ever got to actually reaching out was the one time she accidentally hit the call button while staring at Velma’s number. She rapidly jabbed the end button on the screen, but it wouldn’t respond to her cold fingers, and she only ended the call just as her ex answered. Marcie nearly threw the phone in the toilet in fear she’d get a call back. It never came.

Instead she walked into her favorite café expecting to see Madelyn—she had unexpectedly invited her out for coffee the last time she visited the Dinkley family bookstore—and found Velma instead. Like she did in most unexpected situations, Marcie froze. Velma’s head was bent as she concentrated on the notebook on her table, so there was some hope Marcie could sneak out without detection. After a few calming breathes, she backed away as quickly as she could right into a waitress causing her to drop an armload of dishes.

Of course there was a resounding crash that had everyone in the café staring at her. Marcie stuttered out an apology then quietly shuffled over to Velma’s table and sat down. She stared at her lap for a bit trying to work up the courage confronting the one woman who shouldn’t be in town. When she finally looked up Velma had an amused expression on her face. She should have expected that.

“I don’t remember you being that clumsy,” Velma smirked.

“There’s a lot about me you don’t remember,” Marcie snapped.

“You’re right,” Velma agreed, her previous humor evaporating.

It was weird. She straightened up like she was seriously giving Marcie her full attention. Marcie couldn’t ever remember having her full attention before—even when they were dating Velma always had half her mind on a science experiment or whatever topic she was currently researching. Marcie learned to accept this fact ages ago, so having Velma’s gaze laser focused on her was more than a little intimidating. Marcie silently fidgeted under the gaze, feeling a little like a sample slide under a microscope. Never before had she felt such sympathy for an amoeba.

“So?” Marcie finally began. “What are you doing in town? I mean, you’re never in town unless it’s a holiday.”

“Madelyn sent me an SOS requesting I meet her here. Something about a life crisis and she needed my advice?” Velma shrugged. “I’ve never really been sure what I’m supposed to do as a big sister—it still feels weird referring to myself like that—but it seems to me that helping with a life crisis is a big sister thing.”

“It usually is,” Marcie agreed, trying to ignore the weird statement. Madelyn was only three years younger than Velma; she couldn’t possibly remember a time when she wasn’t a big sister. More importantly, she was sure she knew what Madelyn had done. “I think Mads set us up.”

“Why do you suggest that?” Velma asked. She picked up her espresso and gently blew on it. “She knows we’ve been broken up for years and you won’t talk to me.”

“Excuse you, but I wasn’t the one who went radio silent or cut you out of my life,” Marcie fumed. She took a few calming breathes, but seeing Velma acknowledge her accusations was what really quelled her anger. “I mean… she knew I wanted to talk to you, but couldn’t work up the courage to actually do it.”

“That explains a lot,” Velma said. Marcie could see she was thinking about the regular silent phone calls she had been making for the past two months. Thankfully, Velma chose not to pursue that line of conversation. “What do you want to talk about? I’m all-ears.”

“Your book. The Book.”

“I see.” Velma stared down into her coffee. They lapsed back into silence long enough for a waitress, different from the one Marcie collided with, to come by and take Marcie’s order. When she walked away Velma asked, “What do you want to know?”

“Everything!” Marcie said, which had always been her rote response to that question. That got her a brief smile from Velma. “But I’d especially like to know why you wrote about me the way you did. Why did you have me arrested in your novel and then later gunned down by Nazi robots controlled by a psychotic bird?”

“You’re not going to believe me.”

“Try me.”

“Do you remember your string theory? Have a basic understanding of the quantum multiverse?”

“Of course,” Marcie said, trying not to feel offended. “We won our second Tri-State Olympiad of Science on that topic. It may have been years ago, but I still remember.”

“Okay,” Velma said, adjusting her glasses. “See, I didn’t know that because I’m not from this timeline. Not originally.”

“Yeah sure,” Marcie snorted. “And I’m the queen of England.”

“You don’t have to believe me, but it’s true. Or at least it’s true to my perception of reality, which is effectively the same thing in practice I’ve found.” Velma smiled ruefully. “I’m not the only one; the same is true for the rest of Mystery Incorporated as well.”

“You’re telling me you all share the same delusion?” Marcie asked. As preposterous as it sounded, she was fascinated by the premise.

“It’s more than a delusion, Marcie. I have a lifetime’s, or at least seventeen years, worth of different memories from the one this time stream’s Velma created.”

“And what happened to this world’s Velma?”

“I don’t know for sure, but as far as I can tell, I replaced her. Completely,” Velma said. Even though she knew the suggestion was unbelievable, Marcie felt a stab of pain in her chest. “Maybe she got swapped into our original world after Crystal Cove was completely obliterated. However, I don’t know if that would be a worse fate than winking out of existence entirely. The Evil Entity really did a number on our world and frankly, I’m still not particularly thrilled by the Anunnaki’s reward.”

“What was different about your old world?” Marcie asked.

“Besides the book? Because that was the salient points of junior and senior year for me.”

“Yeah. Give me some historical differences. Far reaching effects that show this isn’t just a specific delusion.”

“Attached to two years.”

“Yes.”

“Well… JFK was assassinated, Yoko Ono broke up the Beatles, and starting in 1812 the US got in a war with Canada. Our neighbors to the north royally kicked our asses, but I can’t find any mention of such an incident in history books,” Velma explained. “On a more personal note, I grew up an only child, so I never know how to act around Madelyn. I mean, it’s bad enough literally everyone treats me differently than I expect them to, but how do you deal with someone who knows everything about you and they never existed for you?”

“That must be really difficult,” Marcie said softly. She didn’t want to believe her, but it was clear Velma genuinely believed it. She wasn’t a good enough actress to fake a story like this.”

“The only thing more frustrating is you,” Velma continued. “I mean, suddenly having a sister is weird, but I always wanted one, so it isn’t that hard to get used to it, but you died for me. That isn’t something I can just get over.”

Marcie was speechless.

“We hated each other for so long and had only just developed mutual respect for one another when the world ended. I had so many new feelings about you I could barely handle them and solve a millennia old mystery. It was such a confusing time. I mean, figuring out one’s sexuality is difficult for anyone, but try doing it during an apocalypse,” Velma laughed as tears rolled down her cheeks. “You were the first person to truly see me and you loved me for it. But then everyone was eaten as the world ended and you died before I could tell you how much you meant to me. Before I could tell you I loved you.”

“Hey, are you ladies okay?” Alice May asked as she dropped off Marcie’s order.

“We’re fine,” Marcie assured her. Velma sniffed and wiped away some of her tears. Alice May shot her a dirty look, she must have read Velma’s book as well, before turning her attention back to Marcie. “Just talking about some heavy stuff from the past.”

“Let me know if you need anything else,” Alice May said, smiling at Marcie. She pointedly refused acknowledging Velma during the interaction and then left.

“It’s almost comforting having everyone hate me again,” Velma laughed.

“Is that why you wrote it?” Marcie asked.

“No. I did that to deal with my new reality. Our new reality. It didn’t work as well as I had hoped, but better than expected.”

“And you decided to share the book with everyone? Was that part of the therapy?”

“I wanted you to know the truth. I mean, I couldn’t deal with the fact you were alive again, which was fantastic, but you knew a totally different history between us. You had all these wonderful memories about us as friends and then girlfriends, while I have the time you squirted mustard in my eyes and we got into a literal knock down drag out fight at the Tri-State Olympiad of Science after I won by half a point. Sheriff Bronson Stone separated us by spraying a fireman’s hose and my favorite sweater shrunk by two sizes.

“However, my jealousy over your fond memories wasn’t the point of the book release. I mean, I was a habitual journaler in this world as well as mine, so at least I have a written record of your memories. Sometimes, when I shut my eyes and think really hard I can imagine exactly how those events played out. Past me was an excellent writer. But jinkies, Marcie, at least I knew why I was suddenly different. You didn’t. I didn’t handle things very well and I can’t imagine how hard it was on you when we left. When I left. I wanted you to know why I changed and why I dumped you; not for forgiveness, but for understanding.”

“Woah,” Marcie said. That speech needed some sort of response, but she didn’t know what to say.

“Didn’t you notice I had changed?” Velma asked, brow furrowing. “Right at the end of senior year, the day after Fred’s soccer team won the tournament? The whole gang changed.”

“Sort of,” Marcie admitted. “I figured you were wrapped up in a new project and then worried about college. I never suspected you were a different you.”

“I never meant for the whole world to know nor take away your Velma. I had printed off a copy of the complete manuscript, since I know you’ve always preferred physical to digital, but my editor found it before I could stick it in the mail,” Velma explained. “Before I knew it, the whole project was greenlit and the publishers announced a release date.”

“I can’t forgive you for the book, but maybe you don’t need my forgiveness,” Marcie said. “Maybe there’s nothing to forgive.”

“Do you have any other questions?”

“Are there any photos of us from your past timeline?” Marcie asked.

The question caught Velma off guard. Her eyes widened and her mouth broke into a surprised smile. Her expression was so happy that it provoked a similar response in Marcie. They sat there beaming at each other for a full minute before Velma pulled out her phone.

“I wasn’t able to save much from my old life. We literally just had what we were carrying at the time we finally beat the Evil Entity,” Velma admitted. “However, that included my phone, which being an old brick wasn’t destroyed by the water room. Took a while to get a cord that’d work with my phone—who knew USB connections were the result of an evil influence—but I was eventually able to get everything off my old phone. Here.”

Marcie took the Creationex Corp phone and swiped through the photos. At first they looked like run of the mill recent photos: Velma and the gang, Madelyn, her parents, Miskatonic University. Then she found a picture of the town sign. Instead of reading ‘The Sunniest Place on Earth’ the sign labeled Crystal Cove as ‘The Spookiest Place on Earth.’ She found more and more differences in the photos after that. Fred Jones ran an election campaign, Professor Pericles was a creepy old scarred bird, Daphne’s sisters looked successful, and other equally baffling changes. When she looked up from the phone she found Velma observing her.

“Why didn’t you include these in the book?” Marcie asked.

“These are my memories and I didn’t want to share them with the world,” Velma said. “The gang knows and Fred has copies of all the Mayor Jones photos, since he’s the parent Fred remembers, but the others wanted nothing to do with them. They’re happier never remembering our old life existed.”

“Is that what you want as well?”

“I would never willingly forget what shaped me into the person I am today and that means remembering the unhappy parts of my past. Besides, I was raised by book hoarding museum curators—I could never destroy history. So I keep these as a reminder of what was and who was lost, which includes the other other Mystery Incorporated or whatever you guys called the gang here.”

“Outside of ‘the gang’ our friends group didn’t have a name,” Marcie said. Velma nodded.

“Honestly, I think the Anunnaki messed with this timeline a lot more than just removing evil influences and sticking us here,” Velma admitted. “They redesigned things specifically to give the five of us everything we ever hoped and dreamed for. I mean, how else do you explain my sister or Daphne’s? Sure, maybe Mom had a miscarriage or abortion in my world, but how did all five of Daphne’s sisters go from driven successful women to basement dwellers if it wasn’t to make Daphne happy? She hated their success because it reflected poorly on her own achievements. Daisy may have deserved it, but Delilah did everything she could to help Daphne out.”

“That’s… really dark.”

“And that’s why I hang onto the past,” Velma said firmly.

Marcie nodded in agreement and turned her attention back to the phone. She swiped to the next picture and let out a squeal. She finally found a picture of her and Velma. To her surprise they were dressed in Russian uniforms with the tall wooly hats that clashed with the headsets. This must be a picture from their spy mission together. She flipped through more and more photos, a lot of which contained her doing or wearing things she didn’t remember. Some of the photos showed the gang unmasking monsters. One had Velma chilling with a mermaid. Several held pictures of a puppy Great Dane.

“Is that Scooby as a puppy?” Marcie asked, sliding the phone back to Velma. She took one look and grimaced.

“Ugg no. That’s Scrappy. We don’t talk about him or his glandular problem,” Velma said, fake gagging.

“Never heard of him,” Marcie said.

“Another point in the new universe’s favor,” Velma said. Marcie laughed at that, though she wasn’t certain what was so funny. They lapsed into silence and stared at each other until their smiles faded away. “I guess that answers everything.”

“Yeah, I don’t have any other pressing questions,” Marcie agreed regretfully.

“I should go?” Velma offered, half rising out of her chair. Marcie reached out and grabbed her arm.

“Stay.”

“Are you certain?” Velma asked, sinking back into her seat. “Alice May’s been giving me the evil eye for at least twenty minutes. I should pay our bill and head out.”

“Then I’ll go with you,” Marcie announced, surprising both of them. She was pleased to see a smile break out on Velma’s face again. “There’s a lot more catching up I’d like to do and I’d like to hear more about your memories… from before.”

“Sure, but we should do that somewhere else. I’ve already attracted enough attention here for one day.”

“We could head back to my place,” Marcie offered. “It’s close and we could order Chinese. You could meet my cats! And if we run out of things to talk about I’ll show you my current engineering project. Sound good?”

“Sounds perfect.”

Velma signaled for the bill and she left a far bigger tip than Marcie thought Alice May deserved, considering the way the waitress sneered at Velma. By all accounts Alice May had been a highly competent con woman in the alternate timeline and she never spent more than a night in jail related to Mystery Incorporated. As they left the café side by side Marcie was surprised when her hand sought out Velma’s grip. Their hands still fit together perfectly.

She glanced sideways, catching Velma’s gaze and they both grinned. Even if she wasn’t Marcie’s Velma, she was still Velma. No matter what Marcie had told herself for the last handful of years, she still loved her best friend. And Marcie Fleach’s best friend was—forever and ever in both this universe and the other one—Velma Dinkley.


End file.
